Basketball

Colorado women's basketball: Buffs fall at home to No. 14 Arizona State

Buffs have lost five of past six games in the Pac-12

Kyle Ringo Buffzone.com

Posted:
01/26/2014 02:59:15 PM MST

One month ago the Colorado's women's basketball team was ranked No. 12 in the nation with its hopes for a return trip to the NCAA tournament looking like a sure thing.

After the Buffs fumbled away the ball twice in the final 21 seconds Sunday and watched Arizona State forward Kelsey Moos hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining to give her team a 68-66 victory, CU is flirting with a monster fall from grace.

The Buffs remain winless this season in four games against ranked teams. ASU came into the game ranked No. 14 and could climb even higher in the polls after sweeping its Rocky Mountain road trip at Utah and CU.

The Buffs lost for the fifth time in the past six games. CU fell to 12-7 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12 Conference. On Jan. 1, the Buffs were 10-1.

Coach Linda Lappe's team had a chance to win with the score tied 66-66. She called timeout with 21 seconds to play and decided to put the ball in the hands of point guard Brittany Wilson, who drove around the 3-point arc toward the sideline where she lost her footing and turned the ball over.

"I felt I got tripped," Wilson said. "It was a no call. There is nothing really to say."

Lappe refused to comment when asked whether she thought Wilson was tripped, but she later made it clear she was not happy with the way her team executed in the final moments.

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"When it's tied and you have the ball on the sideline, you want to at least get a shot and you don't want to give them the ball back," Lappe said. "Just about everything bad that could have happened did at the end of that game. I'm not thrilled with how it ended, but now we have to get back to work and do it again."

After Moos made her free throws, CU was unable to get the ball in the hands of Arielle Roberson, who spent a good chunk of the day bringing the ball up the floor and getting the Buffs into their offense. Lappe planned to have Roberson get ball up quickly and pass to freshman Lauren Huggins for a potential game winner, but it didn't materialize.

Wilson once again found herself with the ball and appeared to slip. She regained her balance and heaved a prayer at the basket from beyond half court that fell well short. Arizona State players celebrated their fourth win of the season decided by five points or less. That does not include two overtime wins that came by larger margins.

"We have a lot of experience in these situations," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "This team has a lot of confidence and because of that, we've been able to come out on top in every single one of these close games."

CU looked like it might be blown out on its home court during one stretch in the first half on a day when 50 former players and staff members returned to be honored at halftime. The Buffs went 7 minutes, 32 seconds without scoring. They were 0-for-12 in field goal attempts during that span.

CU failed to make a 3-point shot for the first time since January 2005, snapping a streak of 285 games with at least one made 3-pointer.

Senior captain Ashley Wilson finally broke the streak, but her basket at the 7:47 mark proved to be one of only three made field goals the rest of the half.

The free throw line has been a trouble spot for the Buffs at times this season, but CU managed to stay in the game in the first half by getting to the line and making their free throws. They scored 11 points at the foul line in the final 7 minutes of the half.

The Buffs finally caught the Sun Devils 5 minutes into the second half when Arielle Roberson made a shot to give CU a 39-38 lead. The teams traded the lead numerous times the rest of the way.

Jen Reese led the Buffs in scoring, tying her career high with 22 points for the second straight game. She was one of four CU players to score in double figures. Colorado lost for the first time this season when outrebounding an opponent.

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